Family Politics
"Family Politics" is the third episode of the Canadian television series [http://degrassi.wikia.com/wiki/Degrassi:_The_Next_Generation Degrassi: The Next Generation]. It first premiered on 4 November 2001 on CTV Television and on 1 April 2001 on The N. The episode was written by Aaron Martin and Yan Moore, and directed by Anthony Browne. This episode does not share an exact title with any song, but it is possible that the episode is named after the songs by the music groups Korn or Bad Religion, that have songs simply named Politics. Plot Synopsis Brief Summary Main Plot On the first day of school, Ashley has set her sights on running for Degrassi Community School's student council president. Toby, her newest stepbrother, is annoyed by their awkward new situation as step-siblings and is also frustrated by her unchallenged status for student council president and convinces his best friend J.T. to run against her. Ashley scoffs at first, but when J.T. starts to receive more attention than she thought he would get, she takes drastic measures to ensure she has a solid voting base. This causes tension to arise in their new family. Sub Plots Meanwhile, Emma and Manny deal with Spinner and Jimmy's bullying and teasing on the first day of school. The grade 7's are also put in Mr. Simpson's homeroom class, while the grade 8's are put in Ms. Kwan's class. Furthermore, Paige comes to Degrassi with a new hot look for the new year, in an attempt to really boost her popularity. She even thinks about starting a Spirit Squad for the school's pep rallies. Also, Liberty runs in the election for secretary and Ashley's assistant. Extended Overview The episode begins with Ashley talking to Terri on the phone about the upcoming school year and then hangs up to get ready for school. Ashley tries to get into her bathroom, but Toby is already in it. They argue and it's discovered they are not biological or even step siblings, but are forced to co-habitate because their parents (Ashley's mother and Toby's father) are living together. Ashley yells at Toby to exit the bathroom so she can get ready for school, so he ultimately makes fun of her by coming out and wearing her bra, before she screams, "MOM!" On the first day of school, Toby is complaining about Ashley to J.T. He thinks she resents him and treats him like an unwanted house-guest because he and his dad live in her and her mother's house. Meanwhile, Ashley is complaining to Terri about how annoying Toby is while she's putting up her campaign posters. They run into Paige and she mentions that she hadn't seen them all summer. They look at her clothes while Paige states, "New year, new look, new Paige". She then notices that Ashley is posting up her campain posters and says how typical it is that she's putting them up on the first day of school, rather than focusing on her appearance. Meanwhile, Emma and Manny walk into school for the first time and run into two 8th graders, Jimmy and Spinner. They pick on the girls by demanding they have a hall pass or otherwise leave. Emma and Manny ignore them and meet up with Toby, J.T. and Liberty at what will be their new homeroom. They then meet their homeroom and media immersion teacher Mr. Simpson (Snake). Elsewhere, the 8th graders (Ashley, Terri, Paige, Jimmy and Spinner) meet their homeroom teacher Ms. Kwan. She immediately commends Ashley for starting her presidential campaign so early. After getting out of homeroom Emma, Manny, J.T. and Toby notice Ashley's campaign posters on the wall. Toby hates the fact that no one is running against her, and he convinces J.T. to run a joke campaign to make her sweat. He begins printing out flyers and while putting them up he runs into Ashley, who doesn't take J.T.'s nomination seriously, thinking that no one will be interested in voting for him. Meanwhile, J.T. begins his campaign, saying he'll do what a real politician would do, "Absolutely nothing!" Ashley starts her campaign as well, addressing real issues such as starting a recycling program and getting the school a nighttime dance. Ashley's frustration begins when she sees that people are starting to pay attention to J.T.'s speeches, mainly because he's so funny. At home, Ashley confronts Toby for helping run J.T.'s campaign. Ashley's mom walks in to break up the fight and saying Toby has every right to help run his friend's campaign. Naturally, that upsets Ashley because she feels her mom always takes Toby's side. On the day of the assembly, Toby sees that J.T. has as much school support as Ashley in the election. J.T. starts worrying that he might actually win. Meanwhile, in the hallway, Spinner blows a spitball at Manny, making her cry. Terri and Emma get mad at him for it and he then feels guilty. It turns out that Manny was fake crying all along, only to make Spinner stop. While J.T. is at his locker, Jimmy and Spinner grab him and take him to the gymnasium changeroom where Ashley is waiting. She offers J.T. eighty dollars to drop out of the election, but only gives him half of the money. She promises him the rest when he comes through with his end of the promise and quits infront of the school. Toby finds out about the bribe and is angry because he thinks Ashley gets everything she wants. During J.T.'s speech Toby confronts Ashley in the hallway. He threatens to tell the school about her bribing J.T. into quitting, but Ashley tells Toby that he gets all the attention at home and her mom cares more about him. Because she feels that Toby has now stolen everything she had at home, she wants the one thing that he couldn't take away from her, being school president. Jimmy walks Ashley home from school at the end of the day and congratulates her on winning the election. Toby is sitting outside and disappointingly congratulates Ashley too. He apologizes to her and they both realize that as long as they're living in the same house, they have to at least try and get along better. Toby smiles and nods in agreement. The two both notice that they were momentarily bonding nicely together, probably for the first time. Acting Regular Cast (Ordered alphabetically) *Sarah Barrable-Tishauer as Liberty Van Zandt *Stefan Brogren as Archie "Snake" Simpson *Lauren Collins as Paige Michalchuk *Ryan Cooley as J.T. Yorke *Jake Goldsbie as Toby Isaacs *Aubrey Graham as Jimmy Brooks *Shane Kippel as Spinner Mason *Miriam McDonald as Emma Nelson *Melissa McIntyre as Ashley Kerwin *Christina Schmidt as Terri MacGregor *Cassie Steele as Manny Santos *Dan Woods as Daniel Raditch Supporting Cast *Nigel Hamer as Jeff Isaacs (credit only) *Linlyn Lue as Ms. Laura Kwan (uncredited) *Maria Ricossa as Kate Kerwin Absences *Daniel Clark as Sean Cameron Quotes Issues Faced *Sibling rivalry and relationships *Elections and politics in teens *Bullying Trivia and Goofs *This episode is not named after any song in particular, but it is possible that it is named after the songs by the music groups Korn or Bad Religion, that have songs simply called Politics. *This episode marks the first appearance of Spinner Mason, Jimmy Brooks, Paige Michalchuk and Liberty Van Zandt. *This episode also marks the first appearance of Kate Kerwin and Ms. Kwan in recurring roles. *Although, Ms. Kwan appears in this episode, she is uncredited. *Jeff Isaacs is credited in this episode, but doesn't appear. *As of this episode, Daniel Clark (Sean Cameron) is the only regular cast member that has not yet made an appearance. *Manny mentions that her fake crying always works on her brother. This is the last we ever hear of her having any siblings. *At the beginning of the episode, J.T. has a scooter but in the next shot he doesn't. *It is revealed that Spinner's middle name is Reginald. *''Family Politics'' was the first episode to be shown in the United States. See also *Degrassi: The Next Generation Category:Episodes Category:Degrassi: TNG episodes Category:Student Council President Category:Bullying Category:Siblings Category:Step-siblings